Hello everyone. I've decided to start a blog, partly because it sounds amusing, and partly because I want to remind myself of everything I should be doing while writing. This blog will dispense whatever sage advice I happen to have to offer, along with the side tangents and other thoughts that come to mind while writing these things. I will have space at the end of each blog for a more condensed version of the advice, for the sake of clarity and really making sure I get all this stuff. I'm still working on making it look pretty, and I probably won't have it super fancy until sometime in January. Let's face it, I'm never going to get around to it.
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How to Begin Your Story

Posted February 14th, 2016 at 10:48 AM by Bardothren

Salutations! I waited until after I saw the most recent RWBY episode to start posting this. And Ho. Ly. Psyduck. I am blown away by RWBY's storytelling. It is, hands down, the best storytelling I have ever seen out of a western cartoon. Yes, it even beats out Avatar (both series) in my estimation, and that's no easy feat. All the characters have complex, dynamic personalities, and the writers are not afraid to make them suffer. But still. Holy muk. If you haven't seen the latest episode, watch it now. And if you've never seen RWBY... WATCH IT NOW! roosterteeth.com. You'll thank me later.

As for a quick about me sort of thing, I went home this weekend, had some yummy food, but otherwise not much happened. I've been busy with schoolwork and whatnot, and I hope to have a fanfic chapter up by the end of today.

Alright, now for today's topic...

How to Begin Your Story

Before we begin, note that all following spoilers are RWBY spoilers. If you're not 100% caught up, do yourself a favor and don't click on them. Otherwise, I'm only spoiling the first episode.

With that out of the way, I was kicking myself after I posted Repetition for not doing this one, so I made myself do it this time. Honestly, why didn't I open with this one? And since RWBY still has my mind blown, I'll use it as an example.

RWBY opens poorly. I'll say that right now. Narration about how the world works is among the cardinal sins of starting a story. Now, granted, they make excellent callbacks to this opening scene later,
Spoiler:
particularly the ending of the season finale

but as an intro to the story, it does a terrible job of establishing what a story needs most. I'll get to that later.

The brilliance of RWBY's introduction lies in the dust heist. It does all of the following important storytelling tricks in one swoop:

It introduces an antagonist in the form of Torchwick
Spoiler:
I hope he's not dead... that's such a lame way for a villain to go


It establishes Dust as an important and powerful resource in the world - more so than money

It introduces the main character, one with flaws, quirks, dreams, and absolutely badass scythe skills

It gets so many plot lines rolling all at once
Spoiler:
from Ruby going to Beacon to Cinder-Torchwick shenanigans


And mind you, this is all within the first five minutes of the show. So, before I explain how should a story begin, let's go over how can a story begin, and the flaws/strengths of each one.

Narration
This is when a character states facts about a world or a character.
Strengths: gets world-building done in a concise and clear manner. Your reader will know what stuff does.
Weaknesses: boring as hell. Never let your reader get bored.

Dialogue
This is an interaction between two characters. This can also be narration, as is the case with RWBY.
Strengths: it establishes two personalities at once through character interaction, if done right. If done wrong, it's boring.
Weaknesses: these scenes often happen in a spaceless bubble. The image of the scene is often unclear.

Action
This is when a character's doing something.
Strengths: it establishes stakes - has the character invested in something, which will in turn have the reader invest in them. Also tends to have a better sense of scene.
Weaknesses: under certain settings, the rules of the world may be unclear. Case in point: RWBY physics

Painting a Scene
This is when a scene or character is described in vivid detail.
Strengths: clearest way to paint scenery. It can also characterize the world and the people.
Weaknesses: nothing's happening, has potential to be boring.

That's what I can think of... but that doesn't mean there aren't other ways. You're probably wondering which one I think is the best. If you've ever read anything I've written, you would know I go for the third approach more often than not, and here's why. Stakes. They are the single most important component in storytelling, be it a book, play, comic, television show, anything. There has to be a reason for your characters to care, for that is what makes readers care. Pay attention to any good story and you'll quickly realize that all of them establish a goal for the character, from Harry Potter trying to keep in the Dursleys' good graces to Bruce Wayne's dead parents. And if you want stakes, establishing conflict is the best way to go about it.

Granted, no introduction is going to be purely just one of these techniques. They usually borrow elements from each other. Having a careful balance of these (like RWBY does) allows for early narrative multitasking that is vital to draw in your audience.

Summary


How well your beginning works hinges on how quickly you can draw readers into your world and make them sympathize with your characters. There is no 'one size fits all' policy for stories, or even a particular genre, but there are general trends. Romcom and drama needs more character development while fantasy and sci-fi need more worldbuilding.

And to wrap it up, I'll try to give two quick examples about what these forms of worldbuilding look like.

Spoiler:
A squadron of police lined up outside the doors of the mana vault, pointing their sleek chrome guns at the door.

"Come out and drop your weapons! We have you surrounded. Surrender or we will fire upon you."

"Ugh, seriously?" a man asked. "Don't you have anything more creative to say?"

"Stop fooling around and come out now!"

"Alright, fine, suit yourself."

A man with bright yellow hair and a jagged scar down the side of his cheek waltzed out of the vault, carrying a huge glass jar over his shoulder. Sparkling blue liquid sloshed around inside.

"Drop the mana now!" an officer barked.

"Hey, no need for violence, I'm just making a withdrawal. This is a bank, right?"

One of the officers pointed his gun at the vault doors and fired. A jet of red light seared a hole through the metal. The yellow-haired man regarded the smoking hole with a frown.

"Alright, jeez, have your stupid mana back. It's not even top grade anyways."

As the man lowered it, he fumbled it forward and dropped it on the floor, sloshing it over to the policemen. Then he took a lighter out of his pocket, flicked it on, and dropped it into the glowing blue puddle. It exploded into a flurry of ice crystals, impaling most of the officers. The man took out a pistol and shot the few surviving officers before walking back into the vault and taking a little red crystal.

He sighed and said, "Is this seriously all they had? What a bummer."


vs

Spoiler:
In the world of Asperia, mana is king. It is the essence of life distilled into liquid, or its purest form, crystals. The tiniest application of energy sets off explosive reactions. As such, many thieves and crooks seek it out, but lately, the number of robberies has skyrocket, thanks to one man. The yellow-haired ruffian targets only the purest samples of crystallized fire mana, but for what purpose remains unclear.


It's a little unfair, since I put more work into one, but it should get my point across.

And now for questions you should be asking yourself:

How am I going to draw my reader in?
Is it clear what is going on and how?
Am I being too detailed? Not detailed enough?
What are the stakes for my characters? Why do they do what they do?

Alright, till Saturday! I'm off to rewatch every episode of RWBY to see where there's crows. No, seriously.
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